EDITORIAL: A disaster in Afghanistan for U.S., Biden

Aug. 17—President Joe Biden has got exactly what he didn't want in Afghanistan, not just images reminiscent of the scramble out of Vietnam in 1975, but the same kind of tragedies there, if not worse.

It is a humiliating end to 20 years of American involvement in a bleak country where empires have failed, as Britain and Russia did before us.

The individual tragedies of the Afghan people can and must be mitigated as much as possible. That should include making it clear that America stands by its friends.

The Biden administration can't do much to change the direction of events in Afghanistan, but it can ensure that America takes in those — interpreters and others — who supported U.S. troops during all these years. Bogging them down in immigration red tape suggests a government that can't get anything done.

But the longer-term issue of credibility will have to be faced. American troops have been a constructive presence in Europe and Asia for many decades, helping to keep the peace on the DMZ in Korea, for instance.

If Americans grew tired of Afghanistan — as both presidents Donald Trump and Biden discerned — we can only wonder what foreigners can be sure that the United States government will stand behind them in tough situations in the future.

Biden made much of his foreign policy expertise while running last year. The former head of CIA and Defense, Robert Gates, said in his memoirs that Biden had "been wrong on nearly every foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades."

Now we shall see who is right about the presidential leadership now needed by the United States.

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